Skippack man to be tried for assault on wife after Halloween party

SKIPPACK — A trial was ordered for a Skippack man who allegedly assaulted his wife after a Halloween party in October.

Matthew O’Donnell, 40, of the 2000 block of Piermont Way, will be formally arraigned in county court next month on one count of felony aggravated assault, two counts of misdemeanor simple assault, one count of misdemeanor recklessly endangering another person and two counts of summary harassment after District Judge Albert Augustine held all charges against him after a preliminary hearing on Dec. 5.

Pennsylvania State Police said that on Oct. 27, a woman reported that on the night before, O’Donnell — her husband — attacked her at home after returning from the party at a neighbor’s house.

The woman told police that she had become upset with O’Donnell because he had been staring at another woman at the party. When she confronted O’Donnell about it, he became angry, according to documents filed in county court.

After the couple returned home, the woman alleged, O’Donnell got on top of her, struck her in the face several times and grabbed her shirt and tore it off of her. As she was struggling to get away, O’Donnell held her arms down and held a pillow over her face, police said.

As the woman tried to free herself, she told police, O’Donnell became even more enraged and began punching her in the face several times with his fist, according to the criminal complaint.

She said that O’Donnell then warned her not to report the incident to police because “nobody would believe her” and that his “police friends” would “take care of it,” the complaint states.

Police said they observed fresh bruises to both of the woman’s eyes, her face, her lower lip, her right ear, the back of her neck, her right wrist and her left forearm when she came to the Skippack state police barracks on the morning of Oct. 27 to report the alleged incident.

O’Donnell was taken into custody that day and arraigned before District Judge Maurice Saylor of Gilbertsville, who set bail at $5,000 cash.

O’Donnell is free on bond while awaiting his arraignment in Montgomery County Court, which is scheduled for Jan. 15.